What's in a Name?
by Writing2Death
Summary: "We had our announcements themed by Monsters of the Week – this week's was the Afanc and no one was quite sure what that was, exactly." Looking at our lovely characters from the POV of an Original Character. Gift-Fic for Merlin's Magi. Modern AU.


_Author's Note:_

**Title:** What's in a Name?  
**Author:** Writing2Death  
**Word Count**: 1,774 words  
**Rating: **E (for everyone :D)  
**Warnings:** Spoilers from S1 and S2. Direct allusions to S1 The Mark of Nimueh, A Remedy to Cure All Ills, The Gates of Avalon and The Moment of Truth and S2 Lancelot and Guinevere, Beauty and the Beast parts 1 and 2, The Lady of the Lake, and Sweet Dreams.  
**Pairings:** -Big Breath- Hints of Arthur/OC, Arthur/Merlin, Arthur/Sophia, Arthur/Gwen/Lancelot, Arthur/Vivian, Merlin/Freya  
**Summary**: "High school, especially Camelot High School, where we had our announcements themed by Monsters of the Week – this week's was the Afanc and no one was quite sure what that was, exactly - was sorta like thread all tied together and knotted up."

This was written as a Gift-fic for **merlin's magi**. It's one part based on her and one part me seeing how I could write the characters of Merlin into a modern AU from a different POV. I wasn't originally going to post this but then I was rereading it and thought, well, I might as well. So, yes. A Modern!AU from the POV of an Original Character... hope you like it! Also, could you tell I was indecisive when picking a title? ETA: ... I think I may possibly be doing a companion piece? Not sure yet...

**Disclaimer:** I own nothing. I don't even own Maggie.

Read & Review & Enjoy!

* * *

**What's in a Name?  
AKA: The Importance of Self-Discovery  
POSSIBLY: From the Outside Looking In  
OR: Hey, my name's Maggie.**

Hi.

My name is Margaret Orned.

No, wait let me start over.

Hello.

My name is Maggie.

I frowned – this wasn't turning out the way I wanted it to.

Hey.

My name is Maggie Orned.

There, I thought, that'll do.

Chewing my pencil, I leaned back in my chair slightly. Speeches were clearly stupid. Speeches, really… But, I had my opening sentence (Hey, my name is Maggie Orned) and that should count for something (it didn't).

This… this was English class. English class was somewhere halfway between boring and why-the-hell-are-there-so-many-things-to-write-about? Has anyone told you that Victor and Henry from Frankenstein belong together? English class taught me this.

English class also taught me that my time would be better spent were it not spent staring at the back of Arthur Pendragon's head. It was a very lovely head, which is basically where I rest my argument because who wouldn't stare at the back of Arthur Pendragon's head, really?

There were three people in this room presently staring at the back of his head and one girl (shameless, shameless, her name was Sophia) who was in front of Arthur, staring at him. The three people behind him included me, of course. Also, it included Gwen (awkward, awkward, her name was Guinevere) and Merlin (who… didn't get adjectives to describe him. Only because 'idiot, idiot, his name was Merlin' isn't very nice and I do, occasionally, attempt to screen mean and hurtful thoughts from my head).

High school, especially Camelot High School, where we had our announcements themed by Monsters of the Week – this week's was the Afanc and no one was quite sure what that was, exactly - was sorta like thread all tied together and knotted up. Because while Merlin was staring at Arthur, Arthur was staring at Vivian (haughty, haughty, her name was Vivian). And Freya, in the back quiet and shy, was staring at Merlin. Will (witty, witty, his name was Will), the loud-mouthed idiot who I pretended not to be fond of, stared at Freya. Gwen was staring at Arthur and Lancelot, all gooey-eyed, was staring at Gwen.

No one was staring at me.

Who, I wondered, if anyone, was staring at the teacher?

* * *

"Okay," said our substitute from the Math department, Mr Edwin. Everyone was now staring at the teacher because he had scars marring the left side of his face. My eyes refused to be torn away. "For the first half of class, Ms L. Catrina has left instructions for you to work independently on your speeches due next week. She has _kindly,_" – this here was said without any kindness what-so-ever – "asked me to remind you to remember the theme of discovering yourself."

What did that even _mean_?

Merlin, on the other side of the room, stuck his hand up in the air. "Yes," Edwin said in a lazy drawl, "Mr Emrys, what is it?" Somehow, and bare in mind please that I did not take math, I thought he sounded as if he was rather used to this.

"Just," Merlin said, biting at the end of his pen and tapping it on the desk a moment later, "How do we know if we've found ourselves?"

Edwin twitched. I couldn't tell, really, if Merlin meant the question or if he was totally kidding and doing it for the sole amusement of the rest of the class. At any rate, it got Arthur to laugh.

Involuntarily, I found myself smiling. Damn.

Another hand shot into the air, "Mr Edwin, sir, what of the second half of the class?" This was Lance (polite, polite, his name was Lancelot).

Edwin rolled his eyes skyward in a gesture of 'God, if I could light these kids on fire, I prolly would'. No, I'm totally joking… or am I?

"Catrina assigned a writing prompt. Freefall, she said."

Catrina was a troll, I thought. No, really. I heard some kid the other day saying that she had that split personality disorder – no, not schizophrenia, that's something different – and that her other personality was a troll. Figuratively, of course. Also, I heard that she was secretly out to get Principal Uther Pendragon's money but, I digress, that has nothing to do with whether she may or may not be a troll.

And I found myself staring at Arthur's hair, which was pretty, pretty until Edwin called time on the speech.

Well, I had: Hey, my name is Maggie Orned.

That had to count for something (it still didn't).

* * *

My writing group was Me (Maggie Orned), Arthur Pendragon (God, please, please, why?), Merlin (not terrible), Freya (shy, shy, her name was Freya), Gwen (perfect), Morgana (if I was a little jealous of how pretty she was, I didn't let it affect me disliking her, I swear), and Elaine (known forever= -heart-)

The prompt was: "There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one's self" said by Benjamin Franklin. Apparently it was self-discovery quote number 19.

We'd pushed our desks together. "So, how are we going to go about doing this?" Arthur asked instantly, always one to take charge.

Merlin looked thoughtful. "We could all write one line," he suggested.

Morgana shook her head, "What if they don't match up at all? It could all end up one big mess."

"Maybe we should brainstorm?" Gwen said next and then she thought about it, "well, you know, the thing with the thought bubbles and all the connecting thoughts? It could be helpful. But we don't have to, of course."

Elaine took out her notebook, "So, should I just write Self-Discovery in the middle or…?"

Freya opened her mouth to say something but was overwhelmed by my sudden, very sharp gasp. Could people hear it in China? Prolly. "We could have one for each!" I said. "Like, a comparison. Steel, Diamond, and Self-Discovery."

This was the type of thing I blogged about. If someone didn't stop me, I could prolly go on forever. Blogging took away my sleep. But… it was like, voice, I know you're out there somewhere. It was a voice.

Morgana considered, "I'm not sure that would work." She said. "Self-discovery can't really be compared to steel and diamond, can it?"

"It could," Merlin said in my defense, "if it was done properly."

Morgana shook her head, "We only have twenty minutes left." She said. "We should all write one and then pick the best, I think. That way no one's left out and it gets done efficiently."

I exchanged a small look of discontent with Elaine. She was not in on this plan either, it seemed. Merlin shrugged at me like he was saying 'sorry, I tried. I liked your idea'.

It was Morgana's everyone picked. No surprise there, really. Morgana (confident, confident, her name was Morgana) was beautiful, smart, outgoing, and she was actually a really good writer. I was unsure if this had to do with all those dream diaries she carried around with her, their pages filled with letters.

I did not like Morgana. Gwen loved Morgana – they were friends since early grade school. She agreed.

Freya, who once borrowed a fab-looking dress from Morgana last minute for a party - Facebook has wonderful updates; it's where I got half my information- agreed; it didn't help that she was too shy to read hers out.

Elaine (supportive, supportive, her name was Elaine) sighed, looked down at her own paper and said, "This is so not freefall writing," and she agreed too. Traitor, I thought.

Merlin (secretive, secretive, his name was Merlin) had read his out but Morgana's was better – Merlin's could have been really good actually, I thought, if it had been polished. There was something about him that made you wonder.

Arthur didn't bother to read his out, either. He just said, "I'm not much of a writer," and shrugged, agreeing to go with Morgana's.

And it came down to me. Well, I thought, it didn't really matter very much in the long run.

* * *

The bell rang loudly, sounding like the warning bell you hear in old movies. I sighed, packing up all my papers into my bag. Politics next. I'd stayed up all night last night watching the fifth Harry Potter movie in my room trying to finish my homework. Politics was one of those subjects that really needed to get done and my lunch times were devoted to English novel studies. I lead an exciting life, really.

As I climbed the stairs to my next class, I heard someone call. I turned. It was Arthur. Also: it felt like someone had just tried to kick start my heart without my permission. I should draft a bill to make that illegal.

"Hey," he said, jogging to catch up with me. "You left this,"

Oh, my God, it was my prompt. I flushed, "Thanks," I said awkwardly, taking it from him.

He smiled at me and his eyes were very, very blue. "I hope you don't mind but I read it," he said smiling easily. "It was good, you should have done the reading."

I didn't know what to say so I said, "Oh?"

"Yeah," Arthur said, taking the stairs and it seemed he expected me to follow, "I really like the part about both diamond and steel being shiny or whatever and Self-Discovery being, like, not something that's noticed very much in contrast."

"Thanks," I said, smiling now. My stomach did a back flip; I wish it didn't get these ideas that it was a gymnast – it could be increasingly uncomfortable. I was babbling then, I knew but I prolly couldn't tell you what I said. Elaine said my rambles were oddly poetic – I suspected she was lying.

We came to a stop outside the politics room and I turned to go inside.

"Hey," he said grabbing my arm lightly, "I never got your name."

I'm pretty sure I blushed again. Arthur (wonderful, wonderful, his name was Arthur) smiled at me then and I noticed his teeth were just a little crooked. No one, after all, was perfect.

My brain was telling me to respond. I was Maggie (complicated, complicated, my name is Maggie).

So, I said, "Hey. My name is Maggie."

And he smiled even wider.


End file.
